These words were conceived to the tune of physical exertion and the occasional dropping of heavy antiques.

Two days in the storeroom, and I’m relieved to return to the physically tame realms of the computer screen, where I don’t have to move oak wardrobes after marble-topped dressers, between a few Grandfather clocks. Instead I move their digital equivalents into neatly arranged folders in ‘My Documents’.

A year ago, Parade Antiques acquired the DSO and diary of SOE Maurice Southgate. The diary, written in French, charts Southgate’s memoirs from mid 1940 to early 1942. Our esteemed overlord, Phillip the Prawn, being an impeccable speaker of the French language, was able to translate. Respectfully we have omitted the more personal aspects of the text, leaving a humorous, insightful and vivid account of an incredible time.

This blog? What is it about? Good question. What are blogs usually about? Some pretentious fool wishing for his voice to be heard, sadly this isn’t much different. Alas, we are just simple Antiques folk trying to fashion a niche in this world.

Antiques and all things that are related, things we believe you should know about – the sort of useless information that improves only your pub-quiz performance. Anything from history, antiques, sports, even cooking… who knows? Anything is key here.

The Crimean war remains one of history’s forgotten wars. With it’s causes; intentions and even its location remaining a bit of a distant blur. Ultimately though, its legacy is prominent in the modern world and has had a larger effect than most care to mention.